Nevermore Alone
by Genesis Chi
Summary: Two connected stories. 1) The Doctor won't tolerate Amy singing in the TARDIS, she sets out to discover why he won't allow her to sing in the shower, or watch certain films without warning him first. 2)The Pandorica is fabled to hold the most dangerous being in the Universe, which is automatically assumed to be the Doctor, but even the Doctor has his limits of how far he will go.
1. Evermore Alone (Prologue 1)

**I wanted to do all of the lyrics for this song, as ever since I first heard it I thought it sounded written about the Doctor and Rose, same with P!nk's "Beam Me Up" hence the reference" - but when I tried using them all it didn't work as his thoughts seemed rushed to keep up with the words. All rights to the picture go to Adele Lorienne, as it says at the bottom of the image, I really hope they don't mind me using it, but the reverence on 11's face seemed so beautifully appropriate.**

* * *

There was a reason the Doctor constantly refused Amy on her offer of watching the new Les Misérables DVD together, in fact it was much the same reason he asked the Tardis to soundproof the walls of her room if she started playing her new P!nk CD – fear, fear of particular tracks on each that would still shatter his forever-aching hearts to hear.

And in general, Amy had accepted the fact that her Raggedy Doctor was an eccentric alien with some aversion to modern music, that is until she one day – after a literally hairy encounter with a bunch of long-furred Chewbacca-type aliens that followed her simply for being ginger – she innocently enquired of him whether aliens would prefer her to be blonde. Now, this would generally be a simple enough question with nothing interesting about it, except that in this circumstance the Doctor's answer was not remotely like any she'd considered – he paled considerably, in fact so much she briefly wondered if he were about to faint, his eyes widened comically and a strangled sound escaped his throat before he snapped back to normal with a full-bodied shake and replied "No, of course not, silly Pond, you're much better off as ginger, I've always wanted to be ginger, did you know that?" That conversation continued on with her telling him how easy it would be to make him a redhead if he really wanted to, then discussing at length the pros and cons of dye.

However, when Rory joined the TARDIS crew Amy was distracted enough by various other forms of entertainment to forget the Doctor's warnings, and the couple on one of their 'TARDIS date nights' decided to watch a film in one of the many media-oriented rooms.

The Doctor however knew nothing about this, and had been searching for the Ponds for quite some time when he finally found an 'occupied' light above the doorways of one of his cinema-rooms.

"Alright Ponds, enough snuggly-wuggly kissy-face time, we're going t—"

Whatever the Doctor was going to say cut off abruptly when his eyes fell on Amy's wide-eyed guilty stare, and heard the notes he had been dreading, coupled with the innocent patter of rain and clop of hooves from the speakers.

_'Suddenly you're here, suddenly it starts,_

_Can two anxious hearts, beat as one?'_

Amy's voice cut into his paralysed mind, calling him "Doctor?" but he could not hear Amelia Pond's Scottish lilt, instead a London purr pulsed from his memory, begging to know "What was the end of that sentence?"

Why hadn't he told her? To give her a happy life with a human, ageing version of himself and proof for himself that somewhere, some part of him could have a happy ending – objectively he knew all this, yet the few times he had slept since had suggested otherwise, hence them being few.

_How was I to know that so much hope, was held inside me?_

_What is past is gone, now we journey on through the night._

Hope that's all gone now, the Doctor has known since erasing Donna's memory that from then on he would merely exist, not live, just as it had been when he'd travelled with Martha, a neverending torment caused by his own choices. Choices he regretted to this day, some planned, others spur of the moment, but in many small ways he had let Rose Tyler fall out of his life, and then he forcefully pushed her into another man's arms.

_Trusting me the way you do, I'm so afraid of failing you,_

_Just a child who cannot know, that danger follows where I go,_

_There are shadows everywhere, and memories, I cannot share._

Rose had always trusted him too much, she had let him walk up behind her, not worried about the risk of his plan at Canary Wharf, never even considered the danger – and still he had failed her, one of the highest on his list of guilt, nearly tied with genocide in many ways...

The Doctor had placed his hearts into her hands, given her the gift of as many memories as he could bear, and she had blessed him with her light, casting out the darkness of the Time War by seemingly ending it so his Ninth body could die at peace.

_You have warmed my heart, like the sun,_

_You have brought the gift of life, and love, so long denied me,_

_Suddenly I see, what I could not see,_

His Tenth form had been born loving her and been created from her light and warmth and goodness, yet even his tied-most romantic self (he wasn't even going to try and reconcile Eight's reasons) couldn't say it – why, why hadn't he told her, why hadn't he grabbed her in his arms and refused to ever let go, make his body her fortress since his soul was a temple formed only to worship and adore her.

If he could go back and change it, knowing what he does now, what body and personality had formed without her: clumsy, childish (in a bad way), ignorant and bashful, extremely violent, rivalling his Ninth with anger issues, and yet somehow very honest (and of course, he knows why that is now), if he could go back now, he would, he would make his Metacrisis look after Donna, then run away with Rose before anyone could even think to stop him – but he can't, even with all his bodies he could not contain the damage altering that event would cause now that it has been enacted.

_Nevermore alone, nevermore apart,_

The lyricist got that line tragically wrong, for the Doctor was forevermore alone, and would always be apart from her, his Rose Tyler, his Bad Wolf.

"DOCTOR!" Amy shrieked at the top of her lungs, yanking on his bowtie to try and finally jerk him out of his trance.

The Doctor blinked once, twice, three times before his eyes focussed on her, then Rory, judging their reactions as simply: confused. Taking a long breath he pasted a dopey smile on his face and said simply "As you were then." then making a quick exit before either could question him.

The Doctor fled to the library grabbed a random book before flopping onto one of the sofas to look through it, with his speed-reading capabilities **(Remember Nine in 'Rose' wow he's fast when he wants to be!)** he finished the text within a minute and a half given time to study the images. The book explored the mythical Pandorica and its various real-life connotations. When he stood to place it back and reach for another, the TARDIS humming angrily so stopped to find the reason why, he studied the book for damage, only to find some pages stuck together damply, upon realising the reason he laid the book next to the fire to dry and started out for his room so the Ponds could not walk in on him sobbing his hearts out for his lost Rose.

* * *

**I have another little story that I actually started before this, but works as a sequel, there's a clue in the last paragraph into what it's about, a nice little Rose/11 reunion since I was so upset by "Day of the Doctor" - but I'm going to mark this story as complete since it works as a oneshot and I don't know when or if I'll finish the sequel-y thing, there's a few details I've got to figure out first.**

**PS: This technically isn't a songfic, since the Doctor can hear it and see the movie playing.**


	2. The Tardis' Plan (Prologue 2)

**This is a small prologue to the sequel-y thing, from the POV of our favourite blue police box, again it gives some clues as to how my AU episode happens the way it does, as well as explains some things I felt are left a mystery.**

**I hope you like it :D**

* * *

She had observed her thief since first he walked through Her doors, and naturally grown rather fond of him in all his various shapes and styles throughout the years, yes even his rather loud sixth form She had learned to love in a way. Being a Time-sensitive creature, with higher faculties than even the Time Lords (though they'd rarely admit it) She had known for a long time of the losses he would incur throughout his life, had miserably foreseen the likelihood of the pair of them ironically exterminating the Daleks, along with their respective species' together, and had subsequently seen the two of them's salvation in the form of a petite faux-blonde from a London estate.

Rose had brought the Doctor a friend and reason to live (and love) again, and Herself a sister to fill the soundless void with an alien, but beautiful song to join Her own voice, for a time, something She had missed bitterly in their years of isolation since the Last Great Time War.

When Rose had been ripped away, She had grieved almost moreso than the Doctor, for She had loved just as deeply – in fact She had barely survived the loss of Her sister, had only sparked back to life with the idea of Jack who bore an echo of their song, he run away to the end of the Universe, not to be rid of him as the Doctor declared it, but to try and keep hold of him, spread the song back through the Time Vortex itself so as to never be without it again. To tell the truth the silence had driven her a little bit mad, but then came the Master and spoiled it all, crushing down upon even the feeblest notes She tried to sing, replacing them with screams of pain, which he insanely declared "Music to _his_ ears."

When that torment finally ended She had relented her quest to bring back the singing, if only to try and get Her figurative breath back after the ordeal, when so wonderfully soon She felt snippets of a familiar lilting croon echoing across the Universe itself, breaking through. Oh She could've cried for joy if she'd been corporeal, it was only for a matter of moments, but their Rose had returned, she was returning!

But then came the Darkness, the fading of the stars across the night and the beginning of the end for the Doctor born from love: shot whilst trying to reach his love, forced to believe his best friend and constant companion for centuries burned together, ripped into two people, forced to watch another genocide, then believing the best choice of a bad situation was to send his love away with... well part of himself, but not, and erase the evolution of Donna Noble, returning her to a woman who didn't acknowledge her own importance.

Left alone in the Universe, with only Her for company, burning with rage at the unfairness of it all.

She has witnessed the increase in fury across his regenerations, the build-up of anger and the depletion of mercy, all eradicated with the loss of everything at once, but to pour salt into the wound he chose to lose Rose, and so also lost Her momentary joy.

She might've forgiven him for sending Rose away eventually, if She had not been able to see the fate awaiting the man Rose had been forced upon, and the misery Rose would then have to endure.

As it was, She would not forgive him until Rose was returned, so with a non-existant feral smile, She began to plan…


	3. Rose! Run! River!

**Okay, onto the official story now, we've had two prologues already :D  
Now, this story is AU for a few reasons, one, the story is obviously being changed, and various canon facts whilst not being erased, are definitely being challenged, two, the Doctor may be very OOC since I have to make him interact with River and Rose together – eek! – and I got the lines I needed from a website's transcript, so I've no idea how reliable they are. Third, the timings of the Pandorica actually being physically opened are being tweaked to allow the right words to be spoken. Fourth, as you can see, this is unashamedly Doctor/Rose, with, not bashing exactly, but let's call it character-challenging, of both River and 10.5/10's Human Duplicate. And finally, I am totally ignoring "The Day of The Doctor"s big revelation, cos it doesn't work with some of my explanations.**

**Since we've no concrete way of telling how old the Doctor is, I used 10's quote about being 903 in 'Voyage of the Damned' and 11 saying he was 907 in 'Flesh and Stone' then 909 in 'Impossible Astronaut', and estimated that he's 908 in this, therefore meaning he hasn't seen Rose in about four or five years since 'Stolen Earth' (Wow that was the typing version of a mouthful)**

**So, one with the first chapter of my Pandorica Opens AU! **

**Enjoy, GC XXX**

**PS: TARDIS = the physical form, the police box shell. Tardis = the entity, sentient being. Italics = Rose's 1****st**** Person POV. **

* * *

_Eyes open. Look around. All is dark. It is not yet time. Not time. But it is always Time. Time is always and forever. You cannot stop Time. Time is everything. Time is endless, and for now it is my prison. Eyes close, for I must wait._

…

_Pounding. The rushing of blood and the cacophony of life, flesh feet, then metal footsteps, dozens of them, all different pitches and volumes. The resonances of varied causes. The scrapings of wheels and drag of smooth surfaces over uneven terrain, the faint squeaks of leather and plastic and rubber. All materials are identified by intelligent ears. External sounds dim as the pounding of my life eddies throughout my body, one, two, one, two. I can almost imagine the third and fourth beat of that pulse, but I have been so long without it that it is more like drums than a heartsbeat. Even my internal noises cease to grab my attention as Time whispers that I am not summoned yet. I obey my mistress and return to my rest._

…

_Voices. Unfamiliar, but of course they are, I've not been of this Universe for... too long, and I've little idea when I am, or where, being both outside of, and ensconced in Time will do that to your Time-sense, make it all wibbly-wobbly no matter how good you are at keeping track of which number of seconds you're on. And I am, it's a number too horrendously long to record in any generally understandable way._

"_... In your pocket." One voice says._

"_...A memory... Someone I lost... Forgotten... Remembered..." Though their words are too soft for my uselessly human senses, the few snippets I pick up on hold tones of matching comfort and despair from each, an all-encompassing grief that is confusing to one, and miserably-well understood by the other. Who are these people with such strange pain? And why talk of it beside..._

_That's a good point, I've no idea of the aesthetics of my prison, only that I am in it. It is noticeably without light, any specific temperature, has a constant level of necessary gases for my existence to continue naturally, and some advanced form of life-support since I haven't felt a need for food or water. Yet despite these facilities offered by my jailers, they have no taste whatsoever in furniture, for I am strapped at the joints to a distinctly uncomfortable chair with some form of metal biting into my skin with each breath or faint movement._

_There are the faint noises of a scuffle, and I wish I had some other way of knowing what is happening, since my hearing is not my best sense by a long shot - my best sense is actually smell, honed by memorising the scent of leather and engine oil, apples and hair gel. But after a few exclamations, presumably by the voices I heard before, silence falls._

…

"The Pandorica is ready." The clipped, harsh voice of one of the Roman robots – heehe, that was some cool alliteration – declares.

"What, do you mean it's open?" The Doctor had been studying it for a while, it clearly wasn't open.

"YOU HAVE BEEN SCANNED, ASSESSED, UNDER-STOOD, DOC-TOR." For all the Daleks were unfeeling, hate-focused creatures, they had an uncanny ability to beat around the bush.

"Scanned, scanned by what, a box?" Well, even a box can be a bit more sonic, the Doctor supposes.

"YOUR LIM-ITS AND CAP-ACITIES HAVE BEEN EXTRAP-OLATED."

"The Pandorica is ready." A Sontaran repeats.

"Ready for what?"

"READY FOR YOU."

"No, you're not putting me – unh!" The Doctor shuts his mouth with a groan of pain as one of the Legionary Autons fist's meets his gut. "You lot," he breaths, talking through the pain "working together. An alliance, how is that possible?"

"THE CRACKS IN THE SKIN OF THE UNI-VERSE THREAT-EN ALL REA-LITY." The Doctor sighs inwardly, it wouldn't do to point out how hypocritical that is for a _Dalek_ to accuse _him_ of such.

"The universes will be deleted." Great, the Daleks and Cybermen teaming up again, just like with R— No, don't think about it, not again, not today, remember what Donna used to tell you, a day at— oh Donna...

"You want me to _help_?" The Doctor asks, incredulously staring from one foe to another.

"No! We will save the universe from you!" shouts the the Sontaran leader.

"All projections correlate and concur. The Doctor will destroy the universe." The Cyberleader recites.

"No, no, no, no. You can't put me in there. It's the TARDIS, not me!"

"ONLY THE DOC-TOR CAN PI-LOT THE TAR-DIS."

"Doesn't matter! The TARDIS is going to explode, that's what causes the cracks! The shockwave will destroy the Universe! Not me!" The Doctor calms a little, lowering his previously hysterically shouted voice to a beseeching normal volume. "If you let me go, I can help."

...

"_You're not putting me... It's the TARDIS! The TARDIS is going to explode, that's what causes the cracks! The shockwave will destroy the Universe! Not me!" a voice pleads, waking me from another fantastical dream. _

_A dream of myself and the Doctor, in the TARDIS, as it should be, and Jack too, all of us in the console room arguing how best to get the old girl to co-operate, the Doctor wielding his mallet, Jack bearing only his best smile and charm, and myself solving the problem easily with a few well-placed caresses, compliments to the interior, and joking insults of the boys' repair work. Yet, in all of these far-fetched dreams of the world I long to return to, I can never see the Doctor's face, or picture the console._

_Tardis, the one who started it all by running off with the Doctor, the one who carried him for a millennia with hundreds of inhabitants, guests and pets alike._

_The Tardis, whom let my life be possible such as it is._

_The TARDIS th—_

_Wait._

_As a result of having my mind fiddled with during the pull of my Time energy being sucked back into my birth Universe, which means I can have far more thoughts in a short space of time than the average human – only now do I understand my Doctor's beautiful babbling... – I have inadvertently ignored a very important clue as to where or when I am, the Doctor must be here, in one of his forms._

_..._

"YOU WILL BE PREVENT-ED. O-PEN THE PAN-DORICA!"

_..._

_Before my brain can begin filtering through all the knowledge it possesses of the Doctor's various forms and timelines – which as it turns out is a lot, since over the duration of my imprisonment the masses of information stored away by the Tardis when we merged and knew all of our future together, all that data has begun trickling back in, stimulated by the flow of Time energy still infused with my entire form being forced across the Void— _

_A searing pain shoots through my eyes, excruciating light pierces my retinas after so long of darkness. Thankfully due to my temporal stasis, almost constant slumber, and advanced mental faculties, I am not already blind from underexposure, and my pupils shrink at the fastest possible time, billionths of a second after the light begins, prevented being blinded now— but even not having my sight stolen doesn't change the fact that it __**hurts**__. Hurts so much I cannot help the gasped sob of agony as I twist my face as far as I can from the light, pulling uselessly but reflexively at my restraints to protect my eyes. Sharp breaths leave me rapidly for a few moments more until the pain abates, but even once I am quiet, sound does not leave as I am so used to it doing so by now._

_There is indecipherable chattering of possibly over a hundred nearby voices, the whir of communications devices indicating an unknown mass of further lifeforms supplying endless __**noise**__ that grates at ears grown unused to much sound._

…

A collection of unintelligible mumbles radiate from within the boxy prison, followed by random spurts of words with seemingly no connection: "Dream... shoul'... arguin'... girl... mallet, _Jack_..." The Doctor knew that voice – No, _no_ he didn't, she was gone, left in a parallel world with the luckiest man in any Universe "Easy... Think they're so impressive." That only went to stab further against his raising walls of denial. "Why...? Where's...? ...Running..." Oh how they ran...

The Doctor frowned – nearly whimpered pathetically at his predicament – upon hearing the hearts-wrenching sound of pain that escaped the opening Pandorica. A flash of honey-golden hair that just _wasn't fair_ given the topics brought up by his conversation with Amy earlier that day and the sound of _her_ voice.

His previous regeneration had said hope was his favourite emotion, the man he is now begs to differ – it _hurts_. "Rose?" the question escapes him despite his strongest emotional fortifications having been built around the feelings during the change from the Man Born Loving Her, to the Man Born Missing Her.

"D... Do-Doctah?" that wonderful, soul-stirring London purr caressed his chosen name in a way this body hadn't even realised he'd been empty without.

"THE ABOM-IN-ATION!"

"Rose!" he yelled ecstatically, fighting against the Autons restraining him, but despite the mass-confusion of the amassed force of the Alliance behind him, their grip remained strong. "Rose Tyler!" Oh, oh Rassilon that felt good to say again, this body could say it well too, he suspected all of his forms would enjoy the taste of it in their mouth, in fact, he liked it so much, he said it again "Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler." he repeated whilst shaking himself rhythmically to the melody of her name, hoping to do old times' sake the honour of having her dislodge Autons from holding him down.

It doesn't work of course, not in releasing him anyway, but oh it succeeds in a far greater cause, it makes her laugh, and he nearly weeps with joy upon hearing his favourite sound again. Her giggles are weak, faint and rasping, but still recognisable and ultimate proof – _nothing_ made his hearts pound like Rose Tyler's laughter and smiles.

"WHAT IS THE MEAN-ING OF THIS FRIVOL-ITY?" A nearby Dalek demands, rolling towards the Pandorica, swinging its eyestalk from one brilliantly happy person to another.

"Frivolity?!" The Doctor's eyebrows rose ridiculously high "I'll have you know Dalek, that I have not seen this woman in five relative years... wow it's only been five years, feels like more, I used to count the seconds Rose, did you know that? Course, didn't seem worth the trouble after I regenerated, I'd died just after seeing you, do you remember, New Year's 2004/2005, whichever way you say it. Wow I'm babbling like I did back then, sorry back to the Dalek!" He swung his attentions to his sworn enemy "See, you can't put me in there, can you, if all of you made this box, that nothing can get in, except the most dangerous thing in the Universe, then why is my Rose Tyler inside, hmm?"

"EVEN TIME IS TRAPPED WITH-IN THE PAN-DORICA. THIS IS IM-POSSIBLE."

"Pandorica? This thing? Not very imaginative name is it, only went for the most famous box in Earth's existence. Like that Titanic that nearly fell on the Queen, John talked about tha' a lot..." Rose muttered all this to herself, just to stop the thoughts beating restlessly against the walls of her mind.

"EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

"Maybe let me ou' first, why would I tell a Dalek, or any o' you for tha' matter, withou' somethin' in return?"

"RELEA—" The Dalek's command is cut off as the TARDIS materialised around it, the blasts of gunfire emitting from within.

There are cries amongst the Alliance, of varying volumes and stages of alarm.

"TARDIS MATERIALISING!" another Dalek shrieked.

"Nah, really, never woulda guessed tha'." Rose smirked, only for her signature smile to dim upon River marching out of the TARDIS gun and head held high.

Oh, the Doctor had forgotten that, Rose hated guns just as much as he did – that almost made her absence just before his regeneration a good thing...

"Well, that was unexpected." River declared upon glancing between the Doctor and Rose, noting the light in the Doctor's eyes and the way Rose looked at him for explanation. Giving herself a mental shake, River pasted on a big smile, lifted her gun to aim at the Autons still restraining the Doctor "Now, you lot, scram, or I'm gonna have to use my little friend." she shook her gun for emphasis.

Rose barked out a chuckle "Since when has that ever worked?"

"Since now." and River shot the wrists of the Autons, inches away from the Doctor's flesh, effectively releasing him when the Autons watched wide-eyed as their hands melted from blast of heat.

The Doctor shrugged off the plastic-y remains, instead leaping towards the Pandorica, sonic screwdriver at the ready to break Rose's restraints whilst studying River who was currently giving a threatening speech to the Alliance, along the lines of "Leave now, or I shoot you all" and since her gun had proved effective on Dalekanium, most took the threat rather seriously and began to flee, or in the warrior races' cases,_ tactfully retreat_.

"Rose, c'mon." the Doctor grinned as he held out his hand, wiggling his fingers as she stretched languorously.

Rose smiled, her tongue peeking out against her will now that she had the chance to study him "A bowtie?" she questioned him, yet taking his hand at the same time, revelling in the strong cool grip as their fingers interlinked. And before he could even respond in his signature manner, Rose piped up "Bowties are cool, if a bi' unlucky."

Hauling her out of the chair and leading her towards the TARDIS, he looked back and gave her a huge smile, celadon-green eyes glittering brightly in reminiscence as he whispered "Run!" and they did, jogging together through the doors before spontaneously bursting into ecstatic laughter.

* * *

**Another chapter done, good for me, finally getting back on the horse. Now maybe in a review you can tell me how many references you spotted, even I'm not sure how many their are! :D**

**Now, the next chapter is the one that's probably going to take a while to write, since I had written most of this one before I started the rest, but since the storylines matched up I decided to put them together. Dunno if that makes sense - the main point is from here on out I'm literally making it up as I go along :D**


	4. Time And Relative Opinions In Space

**Sorry for the delay, I'm really bad at updating regularly, I have random bursts of writing loads and then writing nothing, but hey, at least it's here now. I've no idea how well I've portrayed River, I don't think I did too badly, but if you feel anything is majorly wrong just tell me and I'll try to correct it.**

**Sorry if any of the science is wrong, I tried my best, but I've never been good at anything with numbers or random symbols (maths, music, science, etc) other than letters as they were intended (languages, mainly English)**

**Random but interesting thought: A perfect – in my humble and word-fanatic opinion – analogy for regeneration is that all of the bodies/personalities of one Time Lord/Lady are synonyms of one another, essentially meaning the same thing, yet also having faint and sometimes crucial differences.  
**

**EDIT: Nothing has changed, I've just relaxed Rose's accent in this chapter per request.**

* * *

"I missed you!" the words escaped Rose's mouth before she could stop them, and she slapped her free hand across her mouth in surprise.

"I missed you too…" the Doctor murmured, examining her intently.

"Wha'?" she asked, furrowing her brows at his intensity, but not averting her eyes, she was still trying to catalogue his new features: big childlike eyes in so many shades of green and grey, somehow betraying his age while still seeming youthful; long, floppy dark brown hair with a fringe falling over his right eye that almost physically points toward his admittedly noticeable chin; said jawline is another direct arrow leading to the bowtie she'd already commented on, and tweedy, old professor's clothes – odd combination for this young looking body, but perhaps he'd felt he needed something to show his age physically...

The Doctor shook himself and his sunny smile returned "Just seeing if anything's different to how I remember you's'all." he turned and started towards the console, where River already stood next to a lever, watching Rose warily.

"Well, s'not that likely, it hasn' been tha' long for me, relatively speaking o'course."

The Doctor blinked and halted midstride "How long since Bad Wolf Bay mark 2 then?" he enquired hesitantly, then added in almost a whisper "I don't know if I can get you back... home, those cracks will probably have closed by now."

Rose grinned, tongue drawing his eyes for the tiniest moment before his eye lifted back up to hers "Oh, no need Doctor, I'm happy here… Tha' is, if you don' mind, I could go see if Jack'll—"

"No!" the word escaped his mouth in a desperate gasp (sob, some traitorous part of his brain declared) that had both women studying him curiously. "Um, no, it's alright for you to stay on the TARDIS if I can't get you back to Pete's World, no need to disturb Jack, no need at all."

Rose simply rolled her eyes while continuing to smile, but midroll her gaze fell upon the frizzy-blonde haired woman beside the Doctor, she stepped forward, hand held out "Sorry, how rude o' me, I'm Rose Tyler, past companion, who're you?"

River smirked at the gaping Doctor before politely returning the gesture "River Song, I sort of come and go when I feel like it."

Though she didn't comment on it at the time, Rose had definitely caught the Doctor's clear miming of various 'shut up' and 'stop talking' gestures directed at River. "When you feel like it?" She murmured, a little confused as to why anyone would choose to leave the Doctor, ever, but moreso as she studied River in more detail "Or when it's necessary to save the Doctor?" she concluded, noting rather smugly the surprised look on the older(?) woman's face.

"When is it not necessary?"

"Oi!" The Doctor broke in, actually putting himself between Rose and River "Enough insulting my capability, I've got some questions to ask too!"

The two women glanced at each other briefly, acknowledging that they had both managed to ruffle the Doctor's feathers and taking silent pride in it. "What did you want to know _now_, Doctor? I swear, you never stop asking me things you know I can't answer sweetie." River sighed in annoyance as she leant against the console, preparing herself for a long haul of questioning she'd heard so many times before.

He sent her a small glare before looking back to Rose who stood parallel to River, stroking and studying the new console whilst doing her best to maintain a straight face at the 'sweetie' comment. "Actually, I wanted to ask _Rose_ why she could've possibly missed me when I was right with her."

Rose turned away from the new desktop theme to say only "Shouldn' we continue this discussion in the Vortex so we don' have to worry abou' the Daleks 'n' Cybermen and who knows wha' else outside for the time bein'?"

Both the Doctor's and River's eyes widened "Good point!" "Yes, yes, yes, of course, how have I survived without you Rose Tyler, I'll never know." they started speaking together, but tried to go in opposite directions to parts of the console, thus colliding and causing Rose to laugh when the Doctor fell to the floor in a heap of tweed and Time Lord.

He mock-glared at her when she helped him up "It wasn't funny." he growled, but its threat was made nonexistent by the expression of pure affection on her face.

"So this body's a bit of a klutz? S'that why you got a new interior, broke the old one?"

"Rose Tyler, I will have you know that I have perfect coordination, and I have never broken the TARDIS!"

"Then why'd you change it? I liked the old one." the lights dimmed for a moment, like the Tardis' feelings had been hurt "Oh darling, I didn' mean I don' love this one too! S'nice and Spock." Rose reassured her, patting the now-bubbly time rotor.

"I, I ah, um..." he trailed off, too quiet to hear as he started the sequence and the engines overwhelmed his already-whispered words.

Rose smirked, knowing there would be an interesting confession here if nothing else. "You what, Doctor?"

When the shaking had stopped, a flicker passed through all the lights and a hologram appeared of Rose's first Doctor "Voice Interface activated. Previous interior was replaced after being set on fire, by the Tenth persona of the Doctor _stupidly_ delaying the release of excessive radiation from his body in the form of his regeneration into the relatively current body."

Rose looked from the physical Doctor to the incorporeal one, lips trembling for a moment before bursting into raucous laughter, falling onto the jumpseat and gesturing to first the TARDIS-generated Doctor "Did you seriously pick that form just to call him stupid?!"

The image of the Ninth Doctor nodded then faded away, shifting into a perfect representation of Rose from the Satellite Five incident, golden eyes, floating hair and ethereal voice included "Naturally my Wolf, I've missed you, you toned down his tendency towards idiocy."

Rose grinned in appreciation then pointed at the remaining Doctor and poking him for good measure "You blew up the TARDIS, so don—"

"Wait! Rose shush for a moment." he covered her mouth with his hand and directed his attention to the Interface-Rose and asked "What happened to you exploding? This whole mess was caused by you supposedly going boom and taking the Universe with you, so... what's up with that? Why'd it start, and why did it stop?"

The Interface frowned "There is essentially one answer to each of those questions, though they were mostly synonymous." she said simply.

River huffed "And that answer is? C'mon, you can give _me_ a straight answer, _I_ haven't been driving you wrong for centuries."

The Interface gave an almost feral smirk to all present "I _had_ to retrieve Rose Tyler, the opportunity arose as it did not during our previous separation, so I took it!" her voice was interspersed with static in a manner that seemed like the electronic equivalent of desperation. The tone calmed slightly into the explanation "The cracks you witnessed throughout your relative recent adventures were fissures I ruptured my shell to open and used to operate a function comparative to endosmosis, pulling Rose Tyler's time energy towards my own."

The Doctor stared, a frown growing on his face. River pursed her lips in thought before asking "Surely if I'm understanding correctly, that would mean she should have materialised within the TARDIS itself?"

The Interface nodded jerkily, grimacing in frustration "Of course that's what was supposed to happen!" she relaxed to face real-Rose, who had been standing silently, cataloguing the unusual event of a verbal discussion with the Tardis "I am terribly sorry my Wolf, I truly had calculated correctly, if it had not been for my overlooking of the relative-then highly unlikely timeline that we now stand in, I would have made preparations for the Pandorica's interference of Time's flow and you would not have been trapped there for so long."

Rubbing a tense muscle in her neck, Rose asked "How long was I in there anyway, my muscles are killing me."

"I have something to help with that!" the Doctor put in quickly, starting to root through his enormous pockets.

The Interface's expression turned mournful as she studied Rose "It is difficult to calculate due to the Time-altering and preservation effects of the Pandorica, but I would estimate from the fact that you show any signs of muscle deterioration that at least an Earth century has passed for your body whilst in an approximation of stasis. However, even alternate timelines are unable to aid my assumptions in this case as only Amy Pond was a candidate for entrapment within the Pandorica over an extended relative time of almost two thousand Earth years, for various reasons, the foremost being her death if my shell had continued to fragment, thus enforcing the lethal orders of the currently Auton-replicated Rory."

"What?!" River sprung from the console just as the Doctor found the tube he'd been searching for and hopped up next to Rose to give it to her.

"Repeat: Amy Pond was a candidate for entrapment within the Pandorica over an extended relative time of almost two thousand Earth years, for various reasons, the foremost being her death if my shell had continued to fragment, thus enforcing the lethal orders of the currently Auton-replicated Rory – However, in the prime timeline, this did not occur as Rose Tyler's release let me acknowledge her presence within our Universe's relative present, and thus cut off my Personal Emergency Programme, and ended the signal before it caused the relatively currently Auton form of Rory to shoot and therefore kill Amy."

"So, Amy's alright?" River asked worriedly.

"Human Amy Pond in her relative present has no injuries."

"What do you mean 'Personal Emergency Programme', from the name I'm assuming it's one you created yourself." The Doctor to Rose's surprise, and River's ire, began applying the cream substance to her neck himself, having already pushed her hair to the other shoulder – she relaxed instantly upon the soothingly firm touch to sore flesh accompanied by the pain relieving and muscle strengthening combination in the gel.

"Naturally. If it had only been you who desired Rose Tyler's presence, I may have left you to mope for your many grievances towards her, but, as you might now notice, that is not the case." The Doctor paused in this motions.

"Aww, Tardis, you risked blowing yourself and the Universe up because you missed me!" Rose cooed happily but with appropriate castigation for the risk taken.

"It was a minuscule risk. I would not have endangered lives, it would displease you and you would leave, I would not survive it if you left again."

The Doctor pulled his hands from Rose's skin to focus entirely on the Tardis' words "Explain."

The Interface's eyes bored into the Doctor's "You are not the only one who suffered loneliness following the Time War. Rose Tyler returned music to my Heart, a new song, but a welcome melody to protect me from the silence nonetheless."

River's lips pursed, in thought or annoyance Rose wasn't sure, but she certainly didn't look entirely happy.

Rose bowed her head miserably in acknowledgement of the pain she'd caused to someone no-one had really considered "I'm sorry, I didn' mean to let go."

"Many actions would have changed the events of that day, and many decisions since could have solved the problem quicker if _someone_ had been a little more helpful and less sulky, but it is over and relative-past now, that is all that matters." The Interface grinned, eyes lighting up happily and the buttons around the room flashed in a light show "I am so very happy to have you back Rose, all of your things are just as they were, I have returned the various objects the Doctor has misplaced over the relative years of your absence, and washed your shirts." with that the Tardis' Interface vanished with another flicker of light.

Rose grinned slyly at the Doctor "Wha' happened to my shirts?"

He blushed "Um..." he murmured bashfully, looking to River for help, but she just smirked and folded her arms, watching in amusement. "Oh all right! A few times when I had had a really bad day I put your tops on yellow tasselled cushions and hugged them because they smelled of you, okay?!"

"Brilliant, fantastic even." Rose answered, tongue in her teeth as she tried to hold back her giggles at his expressive declaration.

* * *

**More of the Tardis' feelings on the matter, yay! I love it when the Tardis is included as a character, so I felt I needed to put some interaction with her and it worked as a really useful method of them getting answers, so I'm happy.**

**Please tell me what you think, I got so many lovely favourites and follows but as you probably all know, reviews feel so much nicer to receive, and help a lot with telling me ways to improve :D**


	5. Crisis With The Metacrises

**Okay, I know this is short, but, I have had four injections today, Meningitis C in my right arm (I'm right handed, hence only one) and Diphtheria, Polio and Tetanus in my left - and in case you hadn't guessed, it really, really hurts. I can write, but it's extremely unpleasant, so I'm sorry but a short chappie is all your getting and I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up since I've no idea if the jabs will make me feel ill or not.  
I think this is the second to last chapter, maybe third to last, but we're certainly near the end of this story now. However, I do have another Doctor Who story in the works, but I'm not quite sure how to post it since if I post which characters feature it'll ruin the surprise... and if I don't then people are less likely to see it - any ideas how to solve that problem?**  
**Anyway, over to the Doctor and Rose for a little heart to heart. Enjoy :P**

* * *

_Previously:_

"_Brilliant, fantastic even." Rose answered, tongue in her teeth as she tried to hold back her giggles at his expressive declaration._

Something – rather obvious really – about her words triggered his memory of her earlier evasion "What happened to my clone?"

"Wha' makes ya think anythin' happened to 'im?" she retorted slightly defensively.

"Well, you're way too happy to be here for one thing, and another you've not said a word about anyone in Pete's World, it's not like you not to be concerned for their wellfare."

"I can't change it, so why should I bother bein' concerned?"

"Because it's what makes you you, that you help people?"

Rose bit her lower lip, and despite wanting to comment on the way the Doctor's eyes followed the movement, she remained stubbornly silent, turning away from him a little, letting her hair cover her eyes.

Warning bells went off in the Doctor's mind, he wiped his slightly sticky hands on his trousers then took Rose's left hand between his own two "Rose, what happened?"

"Wha' happened to Donna?!" she spat at him, glaring into the middle distance that just happened to coincide with the placement of River's gun. "Can't imagine she'd leave you all alone for anythin'!"

The Doctor sighed, caressing Rose's knuckles absently, effectively drawing River's full attention to the motion until he glowered at her "River, could you give us a moment alone please."

"Sure sweetie." she answered, sickly sweet "I'll just see where you've put the bedroom this time, constantly hiding it from me." she wagged her finger at him with a grin before leaving the room.

After ensuring that River had indeed gone and wasn't snooping, the Doctor immediately wrapped his arms around Rose, smiling with a bleak sense of victory when she leant against him and tears dampened his tweed jacket just like they had leather and pinstripes.

"Why did you leave me with 'im?" Rose's words emerged not as the interrogation she'd intended, but a weary moan of exhausted misery "We promised forever and then you wen' and left me on tha' bloody beach! Why, please, jus' tell me why?"

"You'd have been safe, safely away from me where I could never hurt you again. And he was human, you could grow old together – we've had this conversation before, _you chose him_."

Rose scoffed and pulled away, mascara running from her eyes not lessening her fury in the slightest "Chose him! Chose _him_?! When did I ever _say_ that I wanted tha'? Growin' old and babies and mortgages, what in the hell gave you the idea I wanted tha' for me?! If I wanted the marriage and children d'you think I've tried so hard to get back to you?! If I cared that I'll age and you won't, d'you think I'd've stayed after Sarah-Jane?! I don' care about any of tha', I never did, I jus' wanted to be with you as long as I could..."

"But, but you kissed him." The Doctor spluttered, at a loss after her rant.

"I would've snogged _Reinette_ if she'd told me with certainty tha' you love me!"

"Reinette, what's she got to do with anything— wait, I thought he told you _he_ loved you?"

"No you bloody plum—"

"Makes you sound like your mother."

"I'll slap you like her if ya don't let me finish."

"Sorry."

"I kissed him cos he had it on quite good authority when he said, and I quote 'That stupid paper-cut of a Doctor loves you, you prawn', it was spur of the moment, despite the insult."

"Ah..."

"Yes," she scowled at him "you may have cocked up, again. Cos himself in the blue suit, was definitely not you, yeah, he sure had parts of you, and was wholly identical physically, but he could tell me more about _Pringles_ than TARDIS parts, horrified when he realised they don't exist there."

"Well, when you pop, you cannot stop?" the Doctor quoted in an attempt of mediation.

She stuck her tongue out in response "He was hilarious actually, but still not you in the slightest, it was like having a bizarre love-child of tha' you and I suppose Donna wandering around the mansion. You know the mos' obvious reason he wasn' you though?"

The Doctor had been smiling at the idea of some part of her living on in another Universe, albeit as a half-Time Lord male – which admittedly did sound just _wrong_ when he thought of it like that. "I don't know, what?"

Rose grinned before whispering conspiratorially "He preferred pears to bananas."

The Doctor looked at her, astonished before making a gagging sound "Okay, evidence enough, no version of me is _allowed_ to do that, therefore he wasn't me in the slightest, not ever."

Rose sobered to murmur "Well, like Donna, he doesn't exist as that person now anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor froze at her words, hand tightening around hers with worry.

"He ended up in tha' London's Bedlam, drove the tabloids berserk having another long-lost Vitex heir suddenly appear on the scene then just disappear a few weeks later."

"What?!"

Rose sighed, wiping at her smeared makeup "About three or four weeks after we all arrived home, he jus' stopped making sense, guess his personalities finally clashed when he didn't have important stuff to focus on anymore."

"Rose I—"

"Don't! Don't say you're sorry, don't say anything! You knew, you all three of you_ knew_ that metacrises don't work, so why didn't you keep them both together, that might've balanced it out or somethin', kept both of 'em working, but no, you were a bloody stupid moron and wiped one's memory and left him all on his own with no one to help him!"

"He had you..."

"And what do you think I could do?! I'm not a doctor, not of psychology or medicine anyway! I couldn't do anything but watch those big puppydog eyes you used to have expecting me to help and I could do absolutely NOTHING! And you know what's worse, in a way I was happy when they locked him up, cos then I didn't have to look at a copy of you, day after day after _you_ left me!"

The Doctor backed away from her, speechless at her righteous rage and the accurate accusations she flung at him. Could he have saved Donna by keeping her and his clone together? They had both been fine before he'd separated them both by the Void... It was all his fault, he'd destroyed the lives of his best friend and technically half of himself at the same time as sacrificing his own happiness – Rassilon he'd been an idiot.

He watched dismally as Rose clenched her fists then stormed away, probably in search of her bedroom so she could sit and curse his existence while calming down – if she still behaved the way he remembered. Deciding he too needed something else to do, he pulled open a section of the console and set to examining what might need the slightest bit of tinkering with.

* * *

**Ooh dear, seems the Doctor's a little on Rose's bad side at the moment, let's leave her alone to calm down, and let's leave poor bruised me some lovely reviews cos they're a hug that doesn't hurt, pretty please with a 'Kinder Bueno'? :)**


	6. Forever

**When I planned this, I had a lovely scene with Rose interrogating River about the legality of her marriage, with some lovely quotes from "The Princess Bride" namely the famous 'Did you say I do?' (partly because Rose can be very jealous, and partly because its confusing enough anyway – him revealing his name is the Gallifreyan marriage vow, so how are they married when we know he didn't actually tell her then? And how does she know it in The Library) but I decided that Rose needed to be a bit kinder to River given how worrying she might've considered the scenario.**

**PS: I know I used a cliché idea for when Rose and Rory meet, but I love it so much I wanted a go too!**

* * *

"So, I take it things didn't go well with Rose?" River's voice came abruptly to the Doctor's attention, causing him to smack his head from the jerk of surprise. He glared at her while rubbing his sore skull and muttering unpleasant things about her mother in Fradinumian.

"No, they didn't," he growled. "How could you possibly guess?"

"Well, all the shouting, the door slam, and the grey-black muck that was covering the section of Rose's face I saw when I came to see what all the yelling was about, and that's just for a start."

"Wait a minute, why are you asking? Surely you should know the answer since you've lived it already, you're from our future— Why didn't you ever tell me I'd get to see Rose again?!"

River blinked in surprise for a moment before regaining her composure "I didn't know, actually, she's not been in the timeline I've lived, in fact, you only mentioned her once or twice, I barely even knew she was a companion."

The Doctor frowned in thought, not happy at all with the connotations of that statement – would Rose leave? Would he really be so pathetic in his melancholy to marry River as he suspected, completely going against his own feeling simply to obey Time – when had he ever done as he was told before? "And you're supposed to be my wife!" he scoffed "Yet you know so little about me."

"I hardly see how one companion makes a difference when you've had dozens."

"_All_ of them matter, every single one was brilliant in their own special way, and if you can't appreciate that then you don't know me _at all_. And Rose was never just a companion, I need her, needed her so much I asked her twice."

River simply waved her hand at the comment "So what, if you 'needed' her so much why didn't you marry her, or, to go with a phrase from her time, _if you like it then you should've put a ring on it_."

"You know very well rings aren't the important part."

Her gaze flickered away for a moment, then her lips quirked up mischievously "You're right, they're not, names are far more valuable aren't they sweetie."

A hurt gasp echoed around the console room and the Doctor spun guiltily to see Rose stubbornly biting her lip against the glistening of her eyes "She knows your name, like, your real, proper name, not 'The Doctor'?"

The Doctor scowled furiously at River "That was unnecessarily cruel." he ground out before softening as he turned back to Rose "Yes, she's going to tell me in her future, when I met her back with Donna, to prove she knows me in her relative present."

"Why? Why's she get to know your name, and not me? Do all the others find ou' too? Did Sarah-Jane and Martha and who knows who else know and you jus' lef' me in the dark?!"

"No!"

"Then why s'it her? She's not even with you all the time! I was with you for a'least two years 'fore we got separated, I thought you and me were..."

"No, no, we were, I promise, we were, everything you thought back then was right."

Rose swiped a hand across her eyes, removing the faint trail of tears and replacing them with a carefully blank expression "I don't understand, is it just this body, do you not... like me anymore?"

"No! Please, Rose you know regeneration can't change things that important, I still feel exactly the same."

Her brow furrowed and River looked on smugly, tapping a foot in amusement. "Then, why?" Rose cautiously studied River, trying to find any plausible reason that a woman he hardly knew was allowed to know his real name, and she, his best friend and, according to virtually everyone, love of his life(lives?), was not.

"Because I'm going to be forced to marry _her_ in the future!" The Doctor finally had had enough and yelled his frustration out whilst pointing accusingly in River's general direction.

"Forced?" Rose's eyes widened helplessly at the wording "What'd'you mean, 'forced'?" she turned her glare upon River "Did you threaten 'im to make 'im marry you? How dare you—"

"No-one could ever force the Doctor into anything, but it needed to happen."

"Why?" the Doctor demands, ever curious, and especially longing to know what would inspire him to marry anyone, especially this infuriatingly _wrong_ woman.

River raised a eyebrow at him "You know what I'm going to say."

"Spoilers, bloody spoilers, well, you know what, I don't care, because the Tardis has created a new timeline, different to yours, so now we just need to wait till it corrects itself. Rose, wanna help me fly the TARDIS to pick up Amy?"

"Um, sure, but one question."

"What's that?"

Rose placed a gentle hand on a slightly-green River "Hey, it's alrigh', I've been in alternate timelines before, it doesn' hurt or anythin', you just get a new set of memories, you don't just cease to exist."

"I know, but mine's more complicated than most." River swallowed nervously, glancing between Rose and the Doctor for a moment before a small smile grew on her face "It's far more possible for me to be wiped out than most anyone else."

Rose studied her intently, sifting through the information of both future and past for anything about River Song – and got quite a surprise when she witnessed the timeline that was slowly but surely being replaced by her very presence. Giving River's hand a comforting squeeze, she looked at the Doctor over her shoulder "If me bein' here stops you getting' married, how does she know your name in The Library, cos that doesn't seem to be changin'."

The Doctor started, how could Rose know that, wait, her eyes were a shade brighter than before, no matter, look at the timeline and worry about Rose later, but Rose is important, not as important as, oh yes she is— He cut off his runaway thoughts by saying "The Tardis is changing Time, but we can trust her to know what she's doing, she probably alters River's memory for a brief time whilst also supplying the information telepathically since River—"

"Standing right here, Doctor." River snapped.

"Yeah, I noticed, anyway, I think we've left the Ponds waiting quite long enough."

"Wait, Pond_s_, as in, _plural_? You have a _couple_ on the TARDIS, how domestic is tha'! And you had the audacity to complain about Mickey 'n' Jack." Rose crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out so that the Doctor forgot he was meant to be starting to pilot the TARDIS in order to stare at her figure with his mouth open, which in turn led to him leaning on a button that sent them all sprawling onto the floor. Laughing from her position by the stairs, Rose grinned at him "Still got the attention span of a three year old."

"I do not!"

"Then fly her properly, and get the date righ' this time." she gave him a look that said she doubted very much that he could do so.

A look of outrage crossed his face before a beam of joy as he pushed up from the floor to help her up "Come on Tyler, let's go fetch the Ponds."

The pair of them danced around the console, Rose pushing buttons and flicking levers before he even formed the breath to ask her, even River watched in astonishment as they landed so gently they didn't even wobble.

"How did you do that?" River asked, smirking slightly at the gobsmacked and wholly adorable look of amazement on the Doctor's face.

"Yes, I'd been meaning to ask a few things along those lines as well."

Rose bit her lip "Well, if I'm understanding this all rightly, I've had loads of information sittin' in my head since Bad Wolf, but my time in the Pandorica gave my brain the, let's call it free space, since I wasn't doing or sensing anything, like a really deep sleep, it gave me the chance to organise it into an understandable format. Well, before tha' my mind sort of ignored it since it was too much to cope with, but now I can access all this data the Tardis and I collected back then – if that all makes sense?"

"Rose..."

"Yes Doctah?"

He grinned brightly, swooping her up into his arms and swinging her around in a hug "You're magnificent!"

Rose opened her mouth to reply when thumps sounded from the TARDIS door, along with "Doctor! Let us in, it's Amy!"

The Doctor spared a brief glance to River before diverting his attention back to gently swaying with Rose, who then promptly smacked his shoulder and declared "Still rude, but I think tha's just you."

"But _Rose_..." he whined "I'm busy!"

"So busy you won't even pick up your companion?"

He squeezed her gently "What do you think I've been doing for the past forty seconds or so?"

She wriggled out of his hold as two people came into the TARDIS "Save it for your tasselled cushions, I wanna meet the couple who forced ya to do domestic for 'em."

"Oi! I did it for you too! I put up with your _mother_!"

Rose smiled with her tongue between her teeth, but did not reply as she turned to greet the woman storming her way towards the Doctor. "Hi, you mus' be Amy, I'm Rose, Rose Tyler, I used to travel with the Doctah."

"Amy, that's Rory, hey." the redhead responded curtly before passing Rose entirely to slap the Doctor "You do _not_ just leave us in the middle of nowhere with God knows what legions of aliens and robots just around the corner, to go and have a threesome in your box!"

The Doctor sputtered from both the disorientation of being spun around by the force of Amy's hand, and from the suggestion that he would ever—

"Um, excuse me, but I swear I've seen you before?" Rory murmured, sidestepping the still furious Amy.

"Doctor, why've you got a Roman companion? I'm confused." Rose looked over her shoulder at him.

"You're Fortuna!" Rory's mouth fell open "Your profile was on a coin! …How did you get here?"

"She's my lucky pants, I never leave without her." the Doctor grinned whilst straightening his bowtie, waiting for Rose's answering tongue-touched smile and pouting when he didn't get it.

Rose pursed her lips at that "You have though, so many ti—"

River stamped a foot "Enough! God, your angst could write a billion poems, both of you get a grip, neither of you are going anywhere." she pointed to each of them "He's not sending you away again anytime soon, and she's got a plan to fix that empty promise."

"Promise?" the Doctor enquired curiously, "What promise?

"Oh that 'forever' gooey nonsense you two've always had."

"Doctor, you do realise what she just said, don't you?" Rose murmured, before delivering a quick aside to Rory "Yes, I modelled, Doctor sculpted."

"River," the Doctor's face lit up with hope "Do you know Rose in our future?"

"Of course I do, it's not as if she's going to leave you, you're practically fused at the hand!"

"But—"

"Oh Rose, just tell him your plan before curiosity regenerates him into an old man."

"That rhymed!" the Doctor put in before latching onto Rose's hand and watching her expectantly.

Rose looked at him through her lashes, biting her lip and having the Doctor's whole and expansive attention on her "Well, um, the thought occurred to me that, um, well," the words exploded out of her mouth in a babble worthy of the Tenth Doctor. "The Pandorica has a timeless atmosphere that freezes any time that enters so anything with excessive Time Energy like me will have been frozen for quite some time too, and I could always go back in if we put it in the TARDIS, if she wouldn't mind?" the lights flickered in agreement and Rose shuffled her feet absently while awaiting his reaction.

Meanwhile Amy had dragged Rory over to River to ask "What the hell is goin' on, and who's she?"

River smiled brightly, placing a hand on both of their shoulders to turn them to face the Doctor as his mouth flopped open and he emitted a wordless sound of joy before throwing Rose up into the air and neatly catching her before descending upon her lips with such unleashed passion that even Amy looked away. "That, Amy, was the Doctor realising he's going to get his forever with Rose Tyler, and probably the beginning of the end of you getting a decent night's sleep anywhere on the TARDIS."

Rose pulled away from the Doctor to heave in a breath "What about all those Daleks 'n' Cybermen and stuff? We can't just leave them hanging around Earth!"

The Doctor grinned while entwining their fingers together "Time machine, we can fight 'Daleks 'n' Cybermen and stuff' some other time," he started to lead her towards the rest of the TARDIS "But right now, I've got a sentence to finish, and your bedroom to locate."

* * *

**So, that's the end, and I'm actually tearing up as I write this, I loved this story so much, my first steps into the Doctor Who fandom, and definitely not the last, I've so far got two more stories in the works (neither related to this though). **

**Please tell me honestly what you thought of my first Drose story!**


End file.
